CURRENT PROJECTS

OHIO PIPELINE ENERGY NETWORK

The Ohio Pipeline Energy Network ("OPEN") is an initiative spearheaded by Spectra Energy, a Houston based ener...more>>

GREENSBORO URBAN LOOP

The Urban Loop project is part of the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s plan to improve traffic fl...more>>

WINSTON-SALEM NORTHERN BELTWAY

The Beltway project has been in the works for more than a decade, but is now finally getting underway. The tot... more>>

ILLIANA EXPRESSWAY (ILLINOIS)

Seen by many as the road that will make the South Suburban Airport a reality, if built, the Illiana Expressway... more>>

AMEREN ILLINOIS RIVERS PROJECT

The Ameren Illinois Rivers Project is an almost 400-mile planned transmission line, stretching from the border...more>>

Illinois Projects

159TH ST. CORRIDOR IMPROVEMENT

The 159th Street Corridor Plan was initiated by the Village of Orland Park and has been funded by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) to establish coordinated transportation, urban design and economic development strategies to improve 159th Street between I-355 and I-294. Six municipalities along the Corridor are cooperating in this planning effort, which addresses a range of relevant planning issues, including coordination of marketing efforts, improvements to circulation and access, urban design concepts, and common branding and wayfinding strategies. The six participating municipalities include (from west to east): Homer Glen, Orland Park, Orland Hills, Tinley Park, Oak Forest and Markham.

The Ameren Illinois Rivers Project is an almost 400-mile planned transmission line, stretching from the border of Missouri to the border of Indiana, covering a giant swatch of central Illinois.

The Illinois Commerce Commission approved the petition in part on August 20, 2013. While the ICC did give the green light for several sections of the line, others were not approved OR are being challenged by landowners. Go here to read the ICC’s full decision. Much more important information, including videos, are on the project website. Click Read More for this information.

This road project in Springfield, IL plans to upgrade Dirksen Parkway between Clear Lake Avenue and Ridge Avenue. The road, currently two lanes, will be widened to four lanes .8 miles south of Berry to 1.2 miles south of Edinburg. Land acquisition began in 2011 but stalled due to budget concerns. A federal transportation bill passed in July 2012 provided the project with funding, and land acquisition of approximately 66 affected parcels will now likely pick up where it left off.

This road project in Kendall County, IL plans to extend Eldamain Road from U.S. 34 to Walker Road. This new extension will be a roadway corridor across the Fox River, which will create a continuous north-south route across Kendall County. With this new extension, Kendall County hopes to help alleviate congestion due to the explosive population growth that has occurred.

The estimated cost for this project is $59 million dollars. Roughly, 80 percent of the cost will be paid by the Illinois Department of Transportation. In addition, Kendall County had a total of $5 million set aside for all the engineering, and land acquisition for the project.

ENBRIDGE FLANAGAN SOUTH PIPELINE

The Gulf Coast Access Project will involve construction of an additional crude oil pipeline southwest from Flanagan, Illinois to Cushing, Oklahoma. The new pipeline will be primarily built on Enbridge’s Spearhead Pipeline existing right-of-way. Construction is scheduled to begin in spring of 2013 and is expected to be in service by mid-2014.

The Manhattan Extension Project is an 18-mile diluent pipeline extension. The new line will connect Explorer’s existing mainline in Peotone, IL to their mainline in Manhattan, IL. The new line will be 24” in diameter and will have a 350,000 barrel per day capacity. Construction is anticipated to start in 2014 and in-service by 2015.

FutureGen 2.0 is a power plant upgrade project, which also involves a new 30-mile pipeline in Meredosia, IL. The upgraded power plant will be near-zero emissions coal-fueled power plant designed to capture 90 % of its carbon dioxide emissions and transport it through a 30-mile pipeline to an underground storage facility. Since this project is considered to be “first-of-its-kind”, the project also entails a research and training center as well as a visitor center in Jacksonville, IL. Construction is anticipated to begin in 2014.

The Grain Belt Express Clean Power Line will deliver 3,500 megawatts of renewable energy from western Kansas to communities in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and several other Midwestern states that have a strong demand for energy. The clean energy will be transported via an approximately 700-mile overhead, high-voltage direct current transmission (HVDC) line, which will require large swaths of land acquisition across these areas.

The development and construction of the Grain Belt Express Clean Line is an estimated $2 billion. This project is still in the preliminary stages and still needs approval from several government entities. The estimated time for the required approvals and construction of the Project is five to seven years. Land acquisition began in 2010 and is expected to be finalized in 2014.

ComEd’s Grand Prairie Gateway Project is a proposed 345,000 volt electric transmission line that will connect the company’s already exsisting substations in Bryon, IL and South Elgin, IL. The line will cross four counties in Illinois: Ogle, DeKalb, Kane and DuPage. ComEd has filed a petition with the ICC on December 2, 2013, and is now awaiting approval. The Project is expected to be completed and in service by 2017.

The 10th Street Corridor Project in Springfield, Illinois is part of a 1.6 billion dollar High-Speed Rail Improvement Project stretching over 284 miles from Chicago to St. Louis. Costing roughly $314 million dollars, the 10th Street Corridor section consists of relocating the existing rail line on 3rd Street to 10th Street. This relocation will also include rail improvements, underpasses, and an overpass.

According to the City of Springfield, the project will be completed in segments with the first segment more than likely starting at Carpenter Street. This project is still in the design phase, but if federal funding is approved construction could start as early as 2014.

I-74 CORRIDOR

The I-74 corridor is a vital link between Iowa and Illinois and an important gateway to the Quad Cities region. Traffic volume has increased dramatically in the region due to growth in population and employment. The current configuration of roadways and bridges along I-74 can’t provide consistent travel times along this major transportation corridor. The goal of the I-74 Corridor is to reconstruct and improve the I-74 Corridor between 27th Street in Moline, IL to 67th Street in Davenport, IA. Eighty-five properties are expected to be affected, and land acquisition is expected to continue for the next five years. Currently, the project’s focus is on the bridges involved in the project.

I-94/US 41 PROJECT

This road improvement project on I-94 extends from Russell Road to just a few miles north up to the Wisconsin State Line. Approximately $6,000,000 in land acquisition is projected for 2012.

IL 176/60-83 PROJECT

This project just received federal approval in August of 2012. The project study limits extend from IL Route 176, at the north, to the intersection of IL Route 60 (Townline Road) and IL Route 83. The planned improvements address roadway and operational deficiencies, traffic safety, traffic congestion, and delays. The Village of Mundelein is the lead agency on the project.

IL 29 (PEORIA)

This project intends to widen IL Route 29 from IL Route 6 in Peoria County to Interstate 180 in Bureau County. The project is divided into three sections: South Section – Chillicothe area, Central Section – Between Chillicothe and north of Sparland, North Section – From north of Sparland to I-180. Land acquisition will be ongoing in 2012.

Seen by many as the road that will make the South Suburban Airport a reality, if built, the Illiana Expressway will become the third major highway into the Chicago-land area from Northwest Indiana. Both IDOT and INDOT have agreed on the B-3 Corridor for the highway which will have the route begin in Wilmington, IL and ending in Lowell, IN. A route has determined and land acquisition is expected in 2014-2015.

PEORIA TO MACOMB HIGHWAY (IL 336)

This project began in 1969, with the passage of state legislation for major highway improvements statewide, including a supplemental freeway, FA 407, from Peoria to Quincy. A corridor study was completed in 1970 and included that portion of the supplemental freeway area from Peoria to IL 61 near the town of Tennessee in McDonough County. Three corridors, A, B, and C, were evaluated, and Corridor A was selected. A draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the portion of Corridor A from Peoria to Canton was begun in the mid-1970s, but the study was suspended in 1979. The FA 407 corridor was also included in three feasibility studies for a highway between Chicago and Kansas City, in 1968, 1974, and 1990. All three studies concluded that the highway could be feasible. In 1998, the 336 Coalition, a group of concerned citizens, business people, and local government representatives, was formed to promote the study and construction of a four-lane highway from Peoria to Macomb. The three corridors from the 1970s study, with a new terminus at Macomb, are re-evaluated in this study. f constructed, the project will provide a modern transportation facility from Peoria to Macomb, which will be the final link in a highway system providing western Illinois and its communities greater access to each other and to the regional interstate highway and expressway systems.

The Peoria to Macomb Highway is still in the process of engineering studies; however $5.5 million is dedicated to land acquisition for 2012.

The Rock Island Clean Line Project is a 500-mile overhead transmission line that promises to deliver 3,500 megawatts from Iowa through Illinois to other states to the east. This new transmission line will deliver clean, renewable energy to the communities that have a strong demand for it. The Rock Island Clean Line is in the process of determining a final route for the transmission line and still needs approval by many government entities. This approval may take up to five and seven years.

S. JOLIET ROAD/US 30/W LINCOLN HIGHWAY

This road improvement project will be taking place at the corner of U.S. 30 and IL 59 (Division St.) south to I-55 in Plainfield, IL. Approximately $6,000,000 in land acquisition for 2011-2012 alone is planned for this road project running along the west side of the Lake Renwick County Forest Preserve.

The highly-contested, long-awaited brainchild of Mayor Richard J. Daley has been in the works for over 40 years. The proposed site for Chicagoland’s third airport, Peotone, has been waiting patiently for this certain boost for its local economy, but has had to face one political hurdle after another. However, hope for this regional hub was renewed in March of 2011 when Governor Pat Quinn announced his desire to start construction on the SSA “as fast as humanly possible.” In late 2012, the Airport submitted its plans to the Federal Aviation Administration, marking its intentions to finally come to fruition.

Though SSA officials had assured landowners they would not utilize eminent domain to acquire property until the project received approval, as of October 2012, at least one landowner had been sued for appropriation of its land.

Enbridge Southern Access Extension Pipeline Project is a 165-mile crude oil pipeline starting at Patoka, IL and ending near Pontiac, IL. This $700 million dollar pipeline Project will cross eight counties in central Illinois: Marion, Fayette, Shelby, Christian, Macon, DeWitt, McLean, and Livingston. Portions of the pipeline will require new right-of-ways, but most of the pipeline will be constructed along existing pipeline and electric transmission line right-of-ways. The route has been determined, but the final design and pipe diameter are still to be determined. The pipeline is scheduled to be in service in 2015.

SPRINGFIELD RAILROAD CORRIDOR

This project involves relocating a set of railroad tracks that runs through Springfield. A final route has not yet been chosen, but several neighborhood associations, including Pillsbury, Downtown Springfield, Iles Park, Harvard Park, and Springfield South Corridor have joined together to closely monitor the project’s planning phase. Additionally, several of the proposed routes affect properties or buildings that are on the National Historical Register, which is a significant concern for many local residents and organizations. The project is still awaiting federal approval, but will eventually involve a significant amount of land acquisition.

U.S 45 EXPANSION/MILLBURN BYPASS

This project involves improvements on U.S. Route 45 between IL 132 and IL 173, with special focus on the Grass Lake Road and Millburn Road intersections in the vicinity of the Millburn Historic District. Much to the chagrin of local residents, the chosen route for the bypass passes through two village subdivisions. The alternative route, favored by a vast majority of residents, passed primarily through empty farm fields. Nevertheless, land acquisition is ongoing.

WABASH AVENUE (SPRINGFIELD)

Until recently, this road widening project from Koke Mill Road to Curran was on hold due to a lack of funding. However, a federal transportation bill passed in July 2012 allocated a significant sum of money to the project. Land acquisition is expected to cost $4,000,000 and will begin shortly.

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